Consumer due diligence for money transfer systems and methods

ABSTRACT

A method of transferring money from a sender to a recipient using a third party money transfer service a point of sale device receiving transaction details for a requested money transfer; determining whether the requested transaction is an allowable transaction; and either aborting the transaction; attempting to identify the sender as an existing customer using the transaction details; using the sender&#39;s transaction history and the transaction details to determine whether to allow the requested transaction to proceed. If the requested transaction is allowed to proceed, the method includes creating a money transfer record for the requested transaction; associating a money transfer control number to the money transfer record; and using the transaction details to determine whether to monitor the requested transaction.

This application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/409,937, filed on Mar. 24, 2009, entitled “CONSUMER DUE DILIGENCE FORMONEY TRANSFER SYSTEMS AND METHODS”, which is hereby incorporated hereinby reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to money transfersystems and methods. More specifically, embodiments of the inventionrelate to systems and methods for analyzing data associated with moneytransfers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Third party money transfer services are used extensively to move funds,typically between individuals or between an individual and a business.While in the past such services required the sender to deposit cash orcash-equivalent funds in person with a representative of a third partymoney transfer service provider, such is no longer the case. Individualsare now able to initiate money transfers from any of a number ofplatforms (e.g., the Internet, unmanned kiosks, automated tellermachines, mobile devices, etc.) using a variety of funds sources(pre-paid accounts, virtual wallets, stored value cards, etc.) andtransferring to various destinations (recipient accounts, virtualwallets, ATMs, etc.). Accordingly, this level of convenience hasincreased the popularity of money transfers using third party servicessuch as that provided by Western Union of Englewood, Colo.

With the increased popularity of money transfer services has comeincreased scrutiny. Greater regulatory attention has been focused onmoney transfer services, and providers of such services are obligated tocomply. Two examples of compliance requirements sources includeAnti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing. As a result, moneytransfer service providers are engaged in an ongoing struggle toincrease the convenience of money transfer services while complying witha growing body of compliance requirements.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method of transferringmoney from a sender to a recipient using a third party money transferservice. The method includes providing a point of sale device at a moneytransfer origination location in communication with a host computersystem of a money transfer network; entering into the point of saledevice transaction details for a requested money transfer by the sender,wherein the details include at least a sender name, a recipient name,and a transfer amount; determining with the point of sale device whetherthe requested transaction is an allowable transaction; if thetransaction is determined not to be an allowable transaction, abortingthe transaction; if the transaction is determined to be an allowabletransaction, attempting to identify the sender as an existing customerof the third party money transfer service using the transaction details.Existing customers have a unique customer identifier and transactionhistory. If the attempt to identify the sender as an existing customerof the third party money transfer service using the transaction detailsis unsuccessful, the method includes displaying a prompt on the point ofsale device that additional information is required; entering theadditional information into the point of sale device; and attempting toidentify the sender as an existing customer of the third party moneytransfer service using the transaction details and the additionalinformation. If the sender cannot be identified as an existing customerof the third party money transfer service using the transaction detailsor the transaction details and the additional information, the methodfurther includes assigning a unique customer identifier to the sender;allowing the transaction to proceed; and storing at least a portion ofthe transaction details and at least a portion of the additionalinformation as transaction history in a record with the sender's uniquecustomer identifier. If the sender can be identified as an existingcustomer of the third party money transfer service using the transactiondetails or the transaction details and the additional information, themethod includes recalling the sender's transaction history; and usingthe sender's transaction history and the transaction details todetermine whether to allow the requested transaction to proceed. If therequested transaction is allowed to proceed, the method includescreating a money transfer record for the requested transaction;associating a money transfer control number to the money transferrecord; and using the transaction details to determine whether tomonitor the requested transaction.

In some embodiments, the method includes providing a second point ofsale device at a money transfer reception location in communication withthe host computer system of the money transfer network, entering themoney transfer control number into the point of sale device to therebylocate the money transfer record; and determining, based on thetransaction details whether to collect personal information from therecipient. Using the sender's transaction history and the transactiondetails to determine whether to allow the requested transaction toproceed may include using the money transfer origination location or themoney transfer reception location, at least in part, to determinewhether to allow the requested transaction to proceed. Using thesender's transaction history and the transaction details to determinewhether to allow the requested transaction to proceed may includedetermining whether a transaction frequency exceeds a predeterminedfrequency threshold. Using the sender's transaction history and thetransaction details to determine whether to allow the requestedtransaction to proceed may include aggregating a plurality oftransaction amounts by the sender and determining whether the aggregateexceeds a predetermined aggregation threshold. Using the sender'stransaction history and the transaction details to determine whether toallow the requested transaction to proceed may include determiningwhether a transaction pattern comprises an unallowable transactionpattern. Attempting to identify the sender as an existing customer ofthe third party money transfer service using the transaction details mayinclude using the host computer system to attempt to identify the senderas an existing customer of the third party money transfer service usingthe transaction details. Using the sender's transaction history and thetransaction details to determine whether to allow the requestedtransaction to proceed may include using the host computer system todetermine whether to allow the requested transaction to proceed.

Other embodiments provide a money transfer system. The system includes ahost computer system and a plurality of point of sale devices at moneytransfer origination locations in communication with the host computersystem. Each point of sale device is configured to receive transactiondetails for a requested money transfer by a sender to a recipient. Thedetails include at least a sender name, a recipient name, and a transferamount. Each point of sale device is further configured to determinewhether the requested transaction is an allowable transaction; abort thetransaction if the transaction is determined not to be an allowabletransaction; and transfer the transaction details to the host computersystem. The host computer system is also configured to: attempt toidentify the sender as an existing customer using the transactiondetails, wherein existing customers have a previously-assigned uniquecustomer identifier and transaction history stored in a recordaccessible to the host computer system; send a message to the point ofsale device that additional information is required if the attempt toidentify the sender as an existing customer is unsuccessful; receive theadditional information; attempt to identify the sender as an existingcustomer using the transaction details and the additional information;recall the sender's transaction history if the sender can be identifiedas an existing customer; use the sender's transaction history and thetransaction details to determine whether to allow the requestedtransaction to proceed; store at least a portion of the transactiondetails and the additional information in a record with the sender'sunique customer identifier; create a money transfer record for therequested transaction; associate a money transfer control number to themoney transfer record; and use at least a portion of the transactiondetails to determine whether to monitor the requested transaction.

In some embodiments, at least one of the plurality of point of saledevices is configured to receive the money transfer control number andinteract with the host computer system to determine, based on thetransaction details, whether to collect personal information from therecipient. In being configured to use the sender's transaction historyand the transaction details to determine whether to allow the requestedtransaction to proceed, the host computer system may be configured touse a money transfer origination location or a money transfer receptionlocation, at least in part, to determine whether to allow the requestedtransaction to proceed. In being configured to use the sender'stransaction history and the transaction details to determine whether toallow the requested transaction to proceed, the host computer system maybe configured to determine whether a transaction frequency exceeds apredetermined frequency threshold. In being configured to use thesender's transaction history and the transaction details to determinewhether to allow the requested transaction to proceed, the host computersystem may be configured to aggregate a plurality of transaction amountsby the sender and determine whether an associated aggregate exceeds apredetermined aggregation threshold. In being configured to use thesender's transaction history and the transaction details to determinewhether to allow the requested transaction to proceed, the host computersystem may be configured to determine whether a transaction patterncomprises an unallowable transaction pattern.

Still other embodiments provide a computerized method of processingmoney transfer transactions. The method includes establishing aplurality of processing rules; storing the processing rules such thatthe rules are accessible to each of a plurality of money transfer pointof sale devices located at money transfer origination locations; at amoney transfer origination location and in response to a request by asender customer to initiate a money transfer transaction, receiving afirst set of data into one of the plurality of money transfer point ofsale devices. The first set of data includes at least a sender name, arecipient name, and a transfer amount. The method also includes applyingone or more of the plurality of rules to the first set of data todetermine whether the requested transaction is an allowable transaction.If the transaction is determined not to be an allowable transaction, themethod includes aborting the transaction. If the transaction isdetermined to be an allowable transaction, the method includes applyingone or more of the plurality of rules to the first set of data toattempt to identify the sender as a previous customer having apreviously-assigned unique customer identifier and associatedtransaction history. If the attempt to identify the sender as a previouscustomer is unsuccessful, the method includes: displaying a prompt onthe point of sale device that additional data is required; receiving theadditional data into the point of sale device; and applying one or moreof the plurality of rules to the additional data to attempt to identifythe sender as a previous customer. If the sender cannot be identified asa previous customer, the method includes: assigning a unique customeridentifier to the sender; allowing the transaction to proceed; andstoring at least a portion of the first set of data and the additionaldata as transaction history in a record with the sender's uniquecustomer identifier. If the sender can be identified as a previouscustomer, the method includes: recalling the sender's transactionhistory; and using the sender's transaction history and at least aportion of the first set of data and the additional data to determinewhether to allow the money transfer transaction to proceed. If the moneytransfer transaction is allowed to proceed, the method includes creatinga money transfer record for the money transfer transaction; associatinga money transfer control number to the money transfer record; and usingat least a portion of the sender's transaction history, the first set ofdata, and the additional data to determine whether to monitor the moneytransfer transaction.

In some embodiments the method includes receiving the money transfercontrol number into one of the plurality of money transfer point of saledevices; and determining whether to collect personal information from arecipient. One or more of the processing rules may use a money transferorigination location or a money transfer reception location, at least inpart, to determine whether to allow the requested transaction toproceed. One or more of the processing rules may use the sender'stransaction history and the transaction details to determine whether atransaction frequency exceeds a predetermined frequency threshold. Oneor more of the processing rules may use the sender's transaction historyand the transaction details to aggregate a plurality of transactionamounts by the sender and determine whether an associated aggregateexceeds a predetermined aggregation threshold. One or more of theprocessing rules may use the sender's transaction history and thetransaction details to determine whether a transaction pattern comprisesan unallowable transaction pattern.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the presentinvention may be realized by reference to the following drawings. In theappended figures, similar components or features may have the samereference label. Further, various components of the same type may bedistinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label.

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary money transfer system according toembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary consumer due diligence method according toembodiments of the invention, which method may be implemented in thesystem of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary “swim diagram” which depicts variousoperations performed by system components in accordance with embodimentsof the present invention.

FIG. 4 depicts an alternative “swim diagram” in accordance withembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary computer architecture for various computingdevices in which embodiments of the present invention may beimplemented.

FIG. 6 depicts various computing devices which may be used to implementembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods forenhancing due diligence efforts regarding money transfer services. Inparticular, embodiments of the present invention provide real-timeanalysis of money transfer transactions. In this context, “real-time”means that a particular transaction is evaluated for due diligencepurposes as a transaction record is created, typically before the fundsassociated with the transaction are collected from the initiator.

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of various embodiments of the present invention. It willbe apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that embodiments of thepresent invention may be practiced without some of these specificdetails. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shownin block diagram form or omitted from the description.

The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiments only, and is notintended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of thedisclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the exemplary embodimentswill provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description forimplementing an exemplary embodiment. It should be understood thatvarious changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elementswithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as setforth in the appended claims.

Specific details are given in the following description to provide athorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will beunderstood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments maybe practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits,systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown ascomponents in block diagram form in order not to obscure the embodimentsin unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits,processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown withoutunnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.

Also, it is noted that individual embodiments may be described as aprocess which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flowdiagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchartmay describe the operations as a sequential process, many of theoperations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition,the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminatedwhen its operations are completed, but could have additional steps notincluded in a figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function,a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process correspondsto a function, its termination can correspond to a return of thefunction to the calling function or the main function.

The term “machine-readable medium” includes, but is not limited toportable or fixed storage devices, optical storage devices, wirelesschannels and various other mediums capable of storing, containing orcarrying instruction(s) and/or data. A code segment ormachine-executable instructions may represent a procedure, a function, asubprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a softwarepackage, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures,or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another codesegment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information,data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments,parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via anysuitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing,network transmission, etc.

Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software,firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or anycombination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middlewareor microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessarytasks may be stored in a non-transitory machine readable medium. Aprocessor(s) may perform the necessary tasks.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to real-time analysis ofdata associated with financial transactions. In order to provide acontext for describing embodiments of the present invention, embodimentsof the invention will be described herein with reference to in-personmoney transfers using the services of a third party money transferservice provider, transactions known commonly as “wire transfers.” Thoseskilled in the art will appreciate, however, that other embodiments arepossible.

According to embodiments of the invention, an individual desiring totransfer funds to another individual or to a business visits a moneytransfer origination location. In the specific embodiment describedherein, the location is manned by a representative of the third partymoney transfer service provider, such as a Western Union agent location,but in other embodiments, the origination location may be a web site, akiosk, an ATM, or any of a variety of other locations from which moneytransfers may be originated. Suitable money transfer originationlocations are located worldwide.

The individual originating the money transfer (hereinafter “sender”)begins the process by completing a form or otherwise providing certaininformation to an attendant. Different information may be required,depending, for example, on the size of the money transfer, thegeographic location of the money transfer origination location, and/orthe like. Necessary information may include, for example, the name,address, and phone number of the sender, the name, address, and phonenumber of the recipient, and the like. In some embodiments, the senderand/or the recipient may have a previously-assigned customeridentification number, which may be used to recall sender's and/orrecipient's personal information.

As the attendant enters the information, a transaction record is built.In some embodiments, the record is built locally on a point-of-saledevice or other hardware located at the origination location. In otherembodiments, the transaction record is built on a host computer systemas transaction details are periodically sent via network from hardwareat the origination location to the host computer system. In either case,compliance rules are applied to the transaction details as thetransaction record is built.

As the rules are applied to the data, the attendant may be instructed totake certain actions. For example, the attendant may be instructed tocollect certain additional data from the sender. The attendant may beinstructed to confirm the sender's identity by requesting a specificform of identification or a biometric sample (e.g., fingerprint, voicesample, eye scan, etc.). The additional data may be added to thetransaction record being built.

In certain embodiments, the rules are aimed at positively identifyingthe sender as a pre-existing customer or a new customer. If the senderis identified as a preexisting customer, rules operate to assess thecurrent transaction in the context of the sender's transaction history.In specific embodiments, rules focus on the size, frequency, pattern,destination, recipient, and/or the like of the sender's transactionhistory to thereby determine whether any compliance regulations would beviolated by allowing the transaction to proceed.

If the sender is positively identified as a preexisting customer and thedesired transaction would not violate a compliance regulation, then thetransaction is allowed to proceed. The details of the transaction areadded to the customer's transaction history. Otherwise, the pendingtransaction is blocked.

In some cases, a decision is made to allow the transaction to proceedbut to monitor the transaction. This may include due diligence withrespect to the recipient of the funds sent by the sender. When the fundsare requested, an attempt may be made to positively identify therecipient as a preexisting customer. If successful, the pending moneytransfer is evaluated in the context of the recipient's transactionhistory. Various compliance measures may be required depending onwhether the attempt to identify the recipient as an existing customer issuccessfully, up to and including aborting the transaction and returningthe funds to the sender.

If customers cannot be positively identified as preexisting customers, aunique identifier is created and coupled to the customer with the intentthat all future transactions involving the customer—without regard towhether the customer is the sender or the recipient and without regardto where, geographically, the transactions originate or terminate—beassociated to the number. For convenience, the unique identifier will bereferred to herein as a “galactic ID.” The galactic ID is not providedto the customer, although it could be, but the customer may desire tovoluntarily participate in, for example, a loyalty program, in whichcase a loyalty program identifier positively links the customer to thegalactic ID. Other data supplied by the customer or developed throughdealings with the customer also are associated with the galactic ID.

Without regard to how transactions are ultimately disposed (abort,allow, allow and monitor), transaction details for the transaction areadded to the transaction history of the sender and recipient. Thegrowing transaction history database is thereafter used for compliancepurposes regarding future transactions.

It will be appreciated in light of this detailed description thatvarious functions according to embodiments of the present invention maybe performed at different locations within the system. For example, asignificant portion of the enhanced consumer due diligence process maybe performed at the “front end,” where a transaction is originated, orat the “back end” where transactions are aggregated by a central, orhost, computer system. Further, the various functions may be implementedin any of a variety of ways, including rules-based, as described herein.Rules may be multi-level, depending, for example, on the originatingagent, geographic location of the origination location, recipient'sgeographic location, the amount of the transaction, the sender's or therecipient's transaction history, and the like. Moreover, the rules maybe applied with dynamic effect, altering the transaction process flow inmyriad ways depending on various specific transaction details.

Having described embodiments of the present invention generally,attention is directed to FIG. 1, which depicts a money transfer system100 according to a specific embodiments of the present invention. Thesystem 100 includes a money transfer origination location 102, having apoint of sale device 103, and a money transfer reception location 104,having a point of sale device 105. Both the money transfer originationlocation 102 and the money transfer reception location 104 are connectedvia a money transfer network 106 to a host computer system 108. The hostcomputer system 108 has an associated database 110, which stores recordsrelating to customers of the money transfer service provided by thesystem 100 and also maintains records of transactions processed usingthe money transfer system 100.

Those skilled in the art will recognize the system 100 as a high leveldepiction of a money transfer system, such as that operated by WesternUnion. Such a system may include thousands of money transfer locations,which may serve as origination locations or reception locations. Moneytransfer locations may be located worldwide. The point of sale devicesat money transfer locations may be any device capable of receivingtransaction details and communicating those details to the host computersystem. Moreover, the host computer system 108 may be a collection ofcomputers spread throughout the money transfer network 106.

It should be appreciated that suitable money transfer locations mayinclude kiosks, automated teller machines, personal computers operatingappropriate software for interfacing to the money transfer network,and/or the like. In some embodiments, mobile devices may be used to bothoriginate and receive money transfers. Many other embodiments arepossible and apparent to those skilled in the art in light of thisdetailed description.

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary method 200 of enhanced, real-time consumerdue diligence in money transfer transactions, which method may beimplemented in the system of FIG. 1. Those skilled in the art willappreciate that the method 200 is merely exemplary of a number ofpossible embodiments according to the present invention, and that othermethods according to other embodiments may include more, fewer, ordifferent steps than those illustrated and described here. Also, thevarious blocks may be traversed in orders different than describedherein.

The method 200 begins at block 202 at which a money transfer transactionis initiated by a sender at an origination location. This includes thecollection of various details, such as the amount of the transfer, thesender's name and the recipient's name. Rules may be operable to requirethe collection of additional details depending on, for example, theamount of money being transferred, the destination of the funds, and thelike.

At block 204 an attempt is made to identify the sender as a preexistingcustomer. If successful, the customer may be associated to an existinggalactic ID at block 206. If the customer cannot be identified as anexisting customer, additional information my be collected and asubsequent attempt to identify the customer as an existing customer mayoccur. If the customer cannot be identified as an existing customer,then the customer may be assigned to a galactic ID at block 208. Block204, 206, and 208 may be carried out at the origination location, at thehost computer, or by the two collaborating.

Attempting to identify the sender as an existing customer may includeusing any of the information provided by the customer to locatecorresponding information in a customer database. Various algorithms,rules, or processes may be used to identify the customer, and variouslevels of confidence may be employed to determine that a match has beenmade. In some embodiments, biometrics or images of the customer areused. These may be gathered actively or passively. For example, facialrecognition may be used to compare a passively-gathered image of thecustomer to images of the customer gathered from the customerpreviously.

At block 210, a determination is made whether the pending transaction isallowable. The decision may be based on the specifics of the pendingtransaction or on an aggregation of the pending transaction and thecustomer's transaction history. If the transaction is unallowable forany reason, the transaction is aborted, as represented by block 212.Nevertheless, the details of the transaction, including an indicationthat the transaction was aborted, are stored in a transaction database,represented by block 214.

If the transaction is allowed, a decision may be made at block 216whether to monitor the transaction. If, for example, the customer can beidentified and the transaction is not otherwise unallowable, a decisionmay nevertheless be made to monitor the transaction to completion. Oneexemplary reason being that the pending transaction departs from along-established pattern of transactions for the customer, therebyraising a flag. Many other examples are possible. If no need to monitorthe transaction exists, then the transaction is completed at block 218when the recipient picks up the funds, and the details of thetransaction are stored, represented by block 220.

If, however, a decision is made to monitor the transaction, the processcontinues at block 222 when the recipient requests the funds at areception location. In a manner similar to that used to identify thesender, an attempt is made at block 224 to identify the recipient as anexisting customer. If the recipient is not identifiable as an existingcustomer, then the transaction proceeds to block 225, at which therecipient is assigned a galactic ID, and the process continues tocompletion at blocks 218 and 220.

If the recipient is identifiable as an existing customer, then adetermination is made at block 226 whether the transaction should becompleted. This may be accomplished using rules and may be based on therecipient's transaction history. If the result of the decision is to notallow the transaction to proceed, then the funds are returned to thesender at block 228, the transaction is aborted at block 230, and thetransaction details are stored at block 232. Otherwise, the transactionproceeds at block 234. The transaction is completed and the details arestored at block 236.

As mentioned previously, the various steps to complete methodembodiments of the present invention may take place at differentlocations within the exemplary system. FIGS. 3 and 4 demonstrate this.Referring initially to FIG. 3, an exemplary method 300 will bedescribed. FIG. 3 depicts a “swim diagram,” which places steps either astaking place at a host computer 302 or an origination location 304. Themethod 300 begins at block 306 at which rules are designed. The rulesare transferred from the host 302 to a point of sale device at anorigination location 304. They rules are populated into some sort ofstorage at block 308. Thereafter, a sender requests to originate atransaction at block 310. A determination is made at block 312, based oninitial information, whether the transaction is allowable. If not, thetransaction is aborted at the origination at block 314. Otherwise, thetransaction details are forwarded to the host computer for an attempt toidentify the customer as an existing customer at block 316.

If the host computer is unable to identify the identify the customer asan existing customer, even after interaction with the originationlocation to collect additional information, then the host assigns agalactic ID to the customer at block 318, and the process continues tosteps 320, 322 and 324, as if the host was able to determine thecustomer to be an existing customer. The host determines whether thetransaction is to be aborted (block 320), allowed (block 322), orallowed and monitored (block 324). If the determination is made to allowthe transaction, with or without monitoring, the allowability of thetransaction is confirmed back to the origination location 304 at block326.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a swim diagram 400 is explained, also having ahost computer 402 set of steps, and an origination location 404 set ofsteps. In this case, the rules are designed, as before, at block 406 andpopulated into a rules database at the origination location at block408. The transaction is originated at block 410, determined whether itis allowable at block 412, and, if not, aborted at block 414, all asbefore in FIG. 3. Thereafter, however, the attempt to identify thecustomer (block 416), the assignment of a galactic ID (block 418), andthe decisions whether to abort (block 420), allow (block 422), or allowand monitor (block 424) are all made at the origination location 404. Ofcourse, many different variations are possible. If a decision is madeeither at block 422 to allowed the transaction or at block 424 tomonitor the transaction, the transaction is confirmed at block 426.

Turning now to FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplarycomputer system upon which embodiments of the present invention may beimplemented will be explained. This example illustrates a computersystem 500 such as may be used, in whole, in part, or with variousmodifications, to provide the functions of the sender's mobile device,the host computer system 108, the origination point-of-sale device 103,and/or the money transfer reception location point-of-sale device 105.

The computer system 500 is shown comprising hardware elements that maybe electrically coupled via a bus 590. The hardware elements may includeone or more central processing units 510, one or more input devices 520(e.g., a mouse, a keyboard, etc.), and one or more output devices 530(e.g., a display device, a printer, etc.). The computer system 500 mayalso include one or more storage device 540. By way of example, storagedevice(s) 540 may be disk drives, optical storage devices, solid-statestorage device such as a random access memory (“RAM”) and/or a read-onlymemory (“ROM”), which can be programmable, flash-updateable and/or thelike.

The computer system 500 may additionally include a computer-readablestorage media reader 550, a communications system 560 (e.g., a modem, anetwork card (wireless or wired), an infra-red communication device,Bluetooth™ device, cellular communication device, etc.), and workingmemory 580, which may include RAM and ROM devices as described above. Insome embodiments, the computer system 500 may also include a processingacceleration unit 570, which can include a digital signal processor, aspecial-purpose processor and/or the like.

The computer-readable storage media reader 550 can further be connectedto a computer-readable storage medium, together (and, optionally, incombination with storage device(s) 540) comprehensively representingremote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices plus storagemedia for temporarily and/or more permanently containingcomputer-readable information. The communications system 560 may permitdata to be exchanged with a network, system, computer and/or othercomponent described above.

The computer system 500 may also comprise software elements, shown asbeing currently located within a working memory 580, including anoperating system 584 and/or other code 588. It should be appreciatedthat alternate embodiments of a computer system 500 may have numerousvariations from that described above. For example, customized hardwaremight also be used and/or particular elements might be implemented inhardware, software (including portable software, such as applets), orboth. Furthermore, connection to other computing devices such as networkinput/output and data acquisition devices may also occur.

Software of computer system 500 may include code 588 for implementingany or all of the function of the various elements of the architectureas described herein. For example, software, stored on and/or executed bya computer system such as system 500, can provide the functions ofmethods of FIGS. 2-4 or methods according to other embodiments.

Computers implementing embodiments of the present invention may bearranged in a number of different arrangements. Merely by way ofexample, FIG. 6 depicts a schematic diagram of a system 600 that can beused in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. The system600 can include one or more user computers 605 a, 605 b, and 605 c beingexamples. The user computers 605 can be general purpose personalcomputers (including, merely by way of example, personal computersand/or laptop computers running any appropriate flavor of MicrosoftCorp.'s Windows™ (e.g., Vista™) and/or Apple Corp.'s Macintosh™operating systems) and/or workstation computers running any of a varietyof commercially available UNIX™ or UNIX-like operating systems. Theseuser computers 605 can also have any of a variety of applications,including one or more applications configured to perform methods of theinvention, as well as one or more office applications, database clientand/or server applications, and/or web browser applications.Alternatively, the user computers 605 can be any other electronicdevice, such as a thin-client computer, Internet-enabled mobiletelephone, and/or personal digital assistant (PDA), capable ofcommunicating via a network (e.g., the network 610 described below)and/or displaying and/or navigating web pages or other types ofelectronic documents. Although the exemplary system 600 is shown withthree user computers 605, any number of user computers can be supported.

Embodiments of the present invention can operate in a networkedenvironment, which can include a network 610. The network 610 can be anytype of network familiar to those skilled in the art that can supportdata communications using any of a variety of commercially availableprotocols, including without limitation TCP/IP, SNA, IPX, AppleTalk, andthe like. Merely by way of example, the network 610 can be a local areanetwork (“LAN”), including without limitation an Ethernet network, aToken-Ring network and/or the like; a wide-area network (WAN); a virtualnetwork, including without limitation a virtual private network (“VPN”);the Internet; an intranet; an extranet; a public switched telephonenetwork (“PSTN”); an infra-red network; a wireless network, includingwithout limitation a network operating under any of the IEEE 802.11suite of protocols, the Bluetooth™ protocol known in the art, and/or anyother wireless protocol; and/or any combination of these and/or othernetworks.

Embodiments of the invention can include one or more server computers615 a and 615 b. Each of the server computers 615 may be configured withan operating system, including without limitation any of those discussedabove, as well as any commercially (or freely) available serveroperating systems. Each of the servers 615 may also be running one ormore applications, which can be configured to provide services to one ormore clients 605 and/or other servers 615.

Merely by way of example, one of the servers 615 may be a web server,which can be used, merely by way of example, to process requests for webpages or other electronic documents from user computers 605. The webserver can also run a variety of server applications, including HTTPservers, FTP servers, CGI servers, database servers, Java™ servers, andthe like. In some embodiments of the invention, the web server may beconfigured to serve web pages that can be operated within a web browseron one or more of the user computers 605 to perform methods of theinvention.

The server computers 615, in some embodiments, might include one or moreapplication servers, which can include one or more applicationsaccessible by a client running on one or more of the client computers605 and/or other servers 615. Merely by way of example, the server(s)615 can be one or more general purpose computers capable of executingprograms or scripts in response to the user computers 605 and/or otherservers 615, including without limitation web applications (which might,in some cases, be configured to perform methods of the invention).Merely by way of example, a web application can be implemented as one ormore scripts or programs written in any suitable programming language,such as Java™, C, C#™ or C++, and/or any scripting language, such asPerl, Python, or TCL, as well as combinations of anyprogramming/scripting languages. The application server(s) can alsoinclude database servers, including without limitation thosecommercially available from Oracle™, Microsoft™, Sybase™, IBM™ and thelike, which can process requests from clients (including, depending onthe configuration, database clients, API clients, web browsers, etc.)running on a user computer 605 and/or another server 615. In someembodiments, an application server can create web pages dynamically fordisplaying the information in accordance with embodiments of theinvention. Data provided by an application server may be formatted asweb pages (comprising HTML, Javascript, etc., for example) and/or may beforwarded to a user computer 605 via a web server (as described above,for example). Similarly, a web server might receive web page requestsand/or input data from a user computer 605 and/or forward the web pagerequests and/or input data to an application server. In some cases, aweb server may be integrated with an application server.

In accordance with further embodiments, one or more servers 615 canfunction as a file server and/or can include one or more of the files(e.g., application code, data files, etc.) necessary to implementmethods of the invention incorporated by an application running on auser computer 605 and/or another server 615. Alternatively, as thoseskilled in the art will appreciate, a file server can include allnecessary files, allowing such an application to be invoked remotely bya user computer 605 and/or server 615. It should be noted that thefunctions described with respect to various servers herein (e.g.,application server, database server, web server, file server, etc.) canbe performed by a single server and/or a plurality of specializedservers, depending on implementation-specific needs and parameters.

In certain embodiments, the system can include one or more databases 620a and 620 b. The location of the database(s) 620 is discretionary:merely by way of example, a database 620 a might reside on a storagemedium local to (and/or resident in) a server 615 a (and/or a usercomputer 605). Alternatively, a database 620 b can be remote from any orall of the computers 605, 615, so long as the database can be incommunication (e.g., via the network 610) with one or more of these. Ina particular set of embodiments, a database 620 can reside in astorage-area network (“SAN”) familiar to those skilled in the art.(Likewise, any necessary files for performing the functions attributedto the computers 605, 615 can be stored locally on the respectivecomputer and/or remotely, as appropriate.) In one set of embodiments,the database 620 can be a relational database, such as an Oracle™database, that is adapted to store, update, and retrieve data inresponse to SQL-formatted commands. The database might be controlledand/or maintained by a database server, as described above, for example.

In a further embodiment, a transaction system which includes a loyaltyhost to administer a loyalty program may be provided. In some instances,the loyalty host may be a component of the one or more machines includedin the transaction system performing other functions. Alternatively, theloyalty host may be a standalone system receiving transaction detailsfrom another component of the transaction system. The loyalty host maybe used to automatically enroll customers in a loyalty program.

Having described several embodiments, it will be recognized by those ofskill in the art that various modifications, alternative constructions,and equivalents may be used without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention. Additionally, a number of well known processes andelements have not been described in order to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring the present invention. Accordingly, the above descriptionshould not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention, which isdefined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of transferring money from a sender to arecipient using a third party money transfer service, the methodcomprising: providing a point of sale device at a money transferorigination location in communication with a host computer system of amoney transfer network; entering into the point of sale devicetransaction details for a requested money transfer by the sender,wherein the details include at least a sender name, a recipient name,and a transfer amount; determining with the point of sale device whetherthe requested transaction is an allowable transaction, based on specificdetails of the requested transaction or based on an aggregation of therequested transaction by determining whether the aggregation of therequested transaction exceeds a predetermined aggregation threshold andbased on the sender's transaction history by determining whether atransaction pattern within the sender's transaction history comprisesunallowable transaction patterns; and if the transaction is determinednot to be an allowable transaction, aborting the transaction.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: providing a second point of saledevice at a money transfer reception location in communication with thehost computer system of the money transfer network; entering the moneytransfer control number into the point of sale device to thereby locatethe money transfer record; and determining, based on the transactiondetails whether to collect personal information from the recipient. 3.The method of claim 2, wherein using the sender's transaction historyand the transaction details to determine whether to allow the requestedtransaction to proceed comprises using the money transfer originationlocation or the money transfer reception location, at least in part, todetermine whether to allow the requested transaction to proceed.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein using the sender's transaction history andthe transaction details to determine whether to allow the requestedtransaction to proceed comprises determining whether a transactionfrequency exceeds a predetermined frequency threshold.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein using the sender's transaction history and thetransaction details to determine whether to allow the requestedtransaction to proceed comprises aggregating a plurality of transactionamounts by the sender and determining whether the aggregate exceeds apredetermined aggregation threshold.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereinusing the sender's transaction history and the transaction details todetermine whether to allow the requested transaction to proceedcomprises determining whether a transaction pattern comprises anunallowable transaction pattern.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinattempting to identify the sender as an existing customer of the thirdparty money transfer service using the transaction details comprisesusing the host computer system to attempt to identify the sender as anexisting customer of the third party money transfer service using thetransaction details.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein using thesender's transaction history and the transaction details to determinewhether to allow the requested transaction to proceed comprises usingthe host computer system to determine whether to allow the requestedtransaction to proceed.
 9. A money transfer system for transferringmoney from a sender to a recipient using a third party money transferservice, the system comprising: a host computer system; and a pluralityof point of sale devices at money transfer origination locations incommunication with the host computer system; wherein each point of saledevice is configured to: provide a point of sale device at a moneytransfer origination location in communication with a host computersystem of a money transfer network; enter into the point of sale devicetransaction details for a requested money transfer by the sender,wherein the details include at least a sender name, a recipient name,and a transfer amount; determine with the point of sale device whetherthe requested transaction is an allowable transaction, based on specificdetails of the requested transaction or based on an aggregation of therequested transaction by determining whether the aggregation of therequested transaction exceeds a predetermined aggregation threshold andbased on the sender's transaction history by determining whether atransaction pattern within the sender's transaction history comprisesunallowable transaction patterns; and if the transaction is determinedto be an allowable transaction, attempt to identify the sender as anexisting customer of the third party money transfer service using thetransaction details, wherein existing customers have a unique customeridentifier and transaction history; if the attempt to identify thesender as an existing customer of the third party money transfer serviceusing the transaction details is unsuccessful: display a prompt on thepoint of sale device that additional information is required; enter theadditional information into the point of sale device; and attempt toidentify the sender as an existing customer of the third party moneytransfer service using the transaction details and the additionalinformation.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein at least one of theplurality of point of sale devices is configured to receive the moneytransfer control number and interact with the host computer system todetermine, based on the transaction details, whether to collect personalinformation from the recipient.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein inbeing configured to use the sender's transaction history and thetransaction details to determine whether to allow the requestedtransaction to proceed, the host computer system is configured to use amoney transfer origination location or a money transfer receptionlocation, at least in part, to determine whether to allow the requestedtransaction to proceed.
 12. The system of claim 9, wherein in beingconfigured to use the sender's transaction history and the transactiondetails to determine whether to allow the requested transaction toproceed, the host computer system is configured to determine whether atransaction frequency exceeds a predetermined frequency threshold. 13.The system of claim 9, wherein in being configured to use the sender'stransaction history and the transaction details to determine whether toallow the requested transaction to proceed, the host computer system isconfigured to aggregate a plurality of transaction amounts by the senderand determine whether an associated aggregate exceeds a predeterminedaggregation threshold.
 14. The system of claim 9, wherein in beingconfigured to use the sender's transaction history and the transactiondetails to determine whether to allow the requested transaction toproceed, the host computer system is configured to determine whether atransaction pattern comprises an unallowable transaction pattern.
 15. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium for transferring money from asender to a recipient using a third party money transfer service, havingsets of instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer,cause the computer to: provide a point of sale device at a moneytransfer origination location in communication with a host computersystem of a money transfer network; enter into the point of sale devicetransaction details for a requested money transfer by the sender,wherein the details include at least a sender name, a recipient name,and a transfer amount; determine with the point of sale device whetherthe requested transaction is an allowable transaction, based on specificdetails of the requested transaction or based on an aggregation of therequested transaction by determining whether the aggregation of therequested transaction exceeds a predetermined aggregation threshold andbased on the sender's transaction history by determining whether atransaction pattern within the sender's transaction history comprisesunallowable transaction patterns; and provide a point of sale device ata money transfer origination location in communication with a hostcomputer system of a money transfer network; enter into the point ofsale device transaction details for a requested money transfer by thesender, wherein the details include at least a sender name, a recipientname, and a transfer amount; determine with the point of sale devicewhether the requested transaction is an allowable transaction, based onspecific details of the requested transaction or based on an aggregationof the requested transaction by determining whether the aggregation ofthe requested transaction exceeds a predetermined aggregation thresholdand based on the sender's transaction history by determining whether atransaction pattern within the sender's transaction history comprisesunallowable transaction patterns; if the transaction is determined to bean allowable transaction, attempt to identify the sender as an existingcustomer of the third party money transfer service using the transactiondetails, wherein existing customers have a unique customer identifierand transaction history; and if the sender cannot be identified as anexisting customer of the third party money transfer service using thetransaction details or the transaction details and the additionalinformation: assign a unique customer identifier to the sender; allowthe transaction to proceed; and store at least a portion of thetransaction details and at least a portion of the additional informationas transaction history in a record with the sender's unique customeridentifier.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15,wherein the sets of instructions when further executed by the computer,cause the computer to: receive the money transfer control number intoone of the plurality of money transfer point of sale devices; anddetermine whether to collect personal information from a recipient. 17.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein one ormore of the processing rules uses a money transfer origination locationor a money transfer reception location, at least in part, to determinewhether to allow the requested transaction to proceed.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein one or moreof the processing rules uses the sender's transaction history and thetransaction details to determine whether a transaction pattern comprisesan unallowable transaction pattern.
 19. A method of transferring moneyfrom a sender to a recipient using a third party money transfer service,the method comprising: providing a point of sale device at a moneytransfer origination location in communication with a host computersystem of a money transfer network; entering into the point of saledevice transaction details for a requested money transfer by the sender,wherein the details include at least a sender name, a recipient name,and a transfer amount; determining with the point of sale device whetherthe requested transaction is an allowable transaction, based on specificdetails of the requested transaction or based on an aggregation of therequested transaction by determining whether the aggregation of therequested transaction exceeds a predetermined aggregation threshold andbased on the sender's transaction history by determining whether atransaction pattern within the sender's transaction history comprisesunallowable transaction patterns; if the transaction is determined to bean allowable transaction, attempting to identify the sender as anexisting customer of the third party money transfer service using thetransaction details, wherein existing customers have a unique customeridentifier and transaction history; and if the sender can be identifiedas an existing customer of the third party money transfer service usingthe transaction details or the transaction details and the additionalinformation: recalling the sender's transaction history; and using thesender's transaction history and the transaction details of therequested transaction or the aggregation of the requested transaction todetermine whether to allow the requested transaction to proceed.
 20. Amethod of transferring money from a sender to a recipient using a thirdparty money transfer service, the method comprising: providing a pointof sale device at a money transfer origination location in communicationwith a host computer system of a money transfer network; entering intothe point of sale device transaction details for a requested moneytransfer by the sender, wherein the details include at least a sendername, a recipient name, and a transfer amount; determining with thepoint of sale device whether the requested transaction is an allowabletransaction, based on specific details of the requested transaction orbased on an aggregation of the requested transaction by determiningwhether the aggregation of the requested transaction exceeds apredetermined aggregation threshold and based on the sender'stransaction history by determining whether a transaction pattern withinthe sender's transaction history comprises unallowable transactionpatterns; if the requested transaction is an allowable transaction:creating a money transfer record for the requested transaction;associating a money transfer control number to the money transferrecord; and using the transaction details to determine whether tomonitor the requested transaction.